Operations

 

Emerson, Steven. Secret Warriors: Inside the Covert Military Operations of the Reagan Era. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1988.

An anecdotal account of the topic, based to a large degree on interviews with "in the know" figures. Useful in highlighting the difficulties inherent in command and control of such operations, but weaker in assessing their propriety and utility.

Johnson, Loch. "Covert Action and Accountability: Decision-Making for America's Secret Foreign Policy." International Studies Quarterly, 33 (March 1989), 81-109.

A detailed examination of covert action, including funding levels, patterns of use, and especially the decision-making process, largely based on interviews with participants in the process.

Leary, William M. Perilous Missions: Civil Air Transport and CIA Covert Operations in Asia. University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1984.

A history of one of the first CIA "proprietaries," concentrating on its role in covert operations, but also touching on some of the broader difficulties inherent in running supposedly-legitimate businesses to support such operations.

Operation Zapata. Frederick, MD: Aletheia Books, 1981.

Edited version of the official Taylor commission post-mortem on the ill-fated 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. (See Items 188, 195.)

Peterzell, Jay. Reagan's Secret Wars. Washington: Center for National Security Studies, 1984.

Although highly critical of Reagan's paramilitary operations, this remains a useful compendium of various operations that became part of the so-called "Reagan Doctrine."

Prados, John. Presidents' Secret Wars; CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations Since World War II. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1986.

A history of U.S. paramilitary operations from the beginning of the Cold War through the mid-1980s, drawn from open or declassified sources. Prados concludes that failures have outnumbered successes. The last chapter has a useful discussion of some of the broader problems raised by such operations.

Roosevelt, Kermit. Countercoup: The Struggle for Control of Iran. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979.

The CIA officer responsible for the overthrow of Mossadegh in 1953 offers details on the planning and execution of one of the most successful and ultimately one of the most controversial covert actions.

Rositzke, Harry. The CIA's Secret Operations: Espionage, Counterespionage and Covert Action. New York: Reader's Digest Press, 1977.

Written in the aftermath of the 1970s investigations, this Clandestine Services veteran attempts to put the extent of covert action into perspective within the larger intelligence process, and offers a critical assessment of several operations and suggestions for reforming abuses.

Schweizer, Peter. Friendly Spies: How America's Allies Are Using Economic Espionage to Steal Our Secrets. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1993.

Economic espionage is one of the hottest post-Cold War intelligence topics. This is largely a compendium of earlier revelations about foreign economic espionage, relying heavily on press accounts. Also, questions have been raised as to the accuracy and reliability of reported interviews in this book.

Thomas. Ronald C., Jr. "Influences on Decisionmaking at the Bay of Pigs." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 3 (Winter 1989), 537-548.

Interesting discussion of the bureaucratics surrounding the Bay of Pigs decision and how flaws in the process may have allowed the CIA to overstep its role. (See Items 182, 195.)

U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services. Inquiry into the Alleged Involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Watergate and Ellsberg Matters [Report of the Special Subcommittee on Intelligence]. 93rd Congress, 1st session, 1973.

Concludes that Nixon's White House staff "clearly [had]...a propensity" for using CIA for purposes not covered by its legislative charter.

U.S. Congress. House. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. United States Counterintelligence and Security Concerns--1986. 100th Congress, 1st session [House Rept. No. 100-5], 1987.

In response to the "year of the spy" (i.e., the Pelton, Chin, Pollard, Howard, and Walker cases), the House committee found "serious" problems in the management of personnel and counterintelligence.

U.S. Congress. Senate. Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities [Church Committee], Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders. 94th Congress, 1st session [Senate Rept. No. 94-465], 1975.

One of the most controversial investigations undertaken by the Church Committee, detailing active U.S. attempts against Lumumba and Castro, and U.S. awareness of plots against Trujillo, Diem and Schneider. The report concluded, however, that "no foreign leaders were killed as a result of assassination plots initiated by [U.S.] officials."

U.S. Congress. Senate. Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities [Church Committee], Covert Action in Chile, 1963-1973 [Staff Report]. 94th Congress, 1st session, 1975.

One of the investigations undertaken by the Church Committee, detailing the nature and depth of U.S. activities in Chile, but shying away from any final judgments as to their propriety in terms of U.S. interests and policy. Veteran practitioners have called this an excellent textbook for political covert action.

Varner, Roy and Wayne Collier. A Matter of Risk: The Incredible Inside Story of the CIA's Hughes Glomar Explorer Mission to Raise a Russian Submarine. New York: Random House, 1978

Although somewhat uneven, insiders consider this to be the best description of the Glomar Explorer operation.

Weissman, Stephen R. "CIA Covert Action in Zaire and Angola: Patterns and Consequences." Political Science Quarterly, 94 (Summer 1979). 263-286.

Argues that the nature and scope of intelligence operations seen in Africa largely mirrored similar activities throughout the Third World during the Cold War. Useful for showing the wide range such activities could cover.

Wyden, Peter. Bay of Pigs: The Untold Story. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979.

One of the best books on the subject, although many have taken understandable exception to some of the views expressed about the CIA. Wyden interviewed many participants on both sides, including Fidel Castro. (See Items 182, 188.)